ALUMINUM EXTRUSION PROJECT Building Construction/Architecture PROD 10006 Team L PRITEN CHAUHAN HARRY BUREAU LUKE HEDLEY DEVISHI KAPOOR CHIA CHUN KENG S TA N L E Y A L LW O O D
User/Scenario A space exploration company is looking to test a method of producing vegetation for consumption in an efficient, safe and controlled environment that could be used on Mars in the future. The product needs to be light weight to reduce the amount of fuel required to transport it and easy to use as a large amount of plants will be growing at one time.
User/Scenario Hydroponics is a relaxing hobby which allows the user to garden in any space of the home and grow healthy nutritious plant without the use of soil. Farmers can use hydroponics to increase yield without soil. Botanists are more likely to be involved with hydroponics. If hydroponics was to be used in space, astronauts would be the user
SpaceX will send civilians to space
Aluminum In Space • Aluminum is light in weight. • Aluminum is not incredibly strong but when combined into alloys it becomes much stronger. • Aluminum alloys are strong and lightweight enough to be functional in space structures and satellites. • Aluminum is used for the shutters on the windows of the International Space Station in order to protect the windows from impacts. • The shutters guarantee the safety of the astronauts within.
Azom.com
Corrosion resistance
Heat-treatable
Formability
ALUMINUM 6000 SERIES ALLOYED WITH SILICON AND MAGNESIUM
Easy welding fabrication
Easily extruded
Structural strength
SmithMetals
What is Hydroponics? The process of growing plants in sand, gravel, or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil. The only requirement for plants to grow comes from the chemical equation of photosynthesis. 6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2 There's no mention of "soil" anywhere. What they do need is water and nutrients, both easily obtained from soil. But if plants can get these things somewhere else— say, by standing with their roots in a nutrient-rich solution—they no longer need soil. That's the basic principle behind hydroponics. In theory, the word "hydroponics" means growing plants in water, but because plants can be grown without actually standing them in water, most people define the word to mean growing plants without using soil.
ExplainThatStuff, AquaponicsPlans
Types of Hydroponics N
NoSoilSolutions
Plant growth on Mars
Factors effecting plant growth on mars: • Observations made by the Mars rover • Organisms • Carbon dioxide, oxygen and sulfur compounds • Sunlight • Toxic soil • Underground use
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Existing Plant Growth Methods in Space • Veggie stands for The Vegetable Production System. Veggie is a system used by NASA to study plant growth in microgravity while adding a food supply for the astronauts in space. • It is the size of a carry-on piece of luggage and one would hold traditionally 6 plants. • Every plant grows in a a pillow of clay-based growth media and fertilizer. This help spread nutrients, water and air around the roots. • Missions now are usually short term but, in the future, they are looking to develop long duration missions where they will be able to survive on a life support system which could rely on a plant use concept. • This will be called bio regeneration life support system. • Radishes are one of the main plants which are being tested and used by NASA and are being researched to be used in long missions.
Why we are making this for Mars? Space X plan to send a cargo ship to Mars in 2022. Space X will need to produce a method of producing fresh produce for human consumption. A hydroponic system would be expandable and easy to maintain once deployed.
Mars Atmosphere Atmosphere Composition
Carbon Dioxide
Nitrogen
Argon
Oxygen
Carbon Monoxide
Other
The average temperature is ~ -60°C, although it can vary from –125°C to 20°C at midday near the equator. Iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize (rust), causing the soil and atmosphere to look red.
Nasa, Space.com
Water on Mars • Most water on Mars exists as ice, with some as vapour in the atmosphere. • The ice is only visible on the surface of the north polar ice cap, but is more common underground. • 21 million km³ of ice has been recorded close to the surface of mars, with more underground. • Evidence that there is water on Mars comes from meteorites showing signs of exposure to water before leaving the surface.
Why we chose this design... Exterior Shell Aluminum 6000
This is the supporting bar that will hold up the greenhouse and add support.
Bending allowance gaps
Clip on overhang
Material gaps - Saves material
The shell of the greenhouse that will hold the hydroponics.
This is what the extrusion hole will look like when the bar is manufactured.
Technical information
Hook part goes through the nylon sheet and is screwed in using a nut.
3rd angle orthographic Simulation for 5KG of weight acting on top of the supporting bar. Stress simulation
Project report-Building Construction/Architecture Group L - Priten Chauhan, Luke Hedley, Harry Bureau, Devishi Kapoor, Stanley Allwood, Chia Chun Keng Aluminum properties include being lightweight, malleable and ductile which make it a versatile construction and production material as it is much cheaper than other metals such as Steel or Iron. Manufacturers often choose to use extrusion as a main process of fabrication due to is low manufacturing cost. Aluminum also has the following properties: • Specific weight- 2.7 g/cm3. It has low density as compared to other metals. • Corrosion Resistance- Naturally generates a protective thin oxide coating. Surface treatment such as anodising, painting or lacquering can further improve this property. • Conductivity- Excellent heat and electricity conductor. In relation to its weight it is almost twice as good a conductor as copper. • Reflectivity- Good reflector of visible light as well as heat. • Ductility-Can undergo plastic deformation without fracture • Low melting point (compared to other metals)- 660°C • Recyclability- Aluminum is 100% recyclable- 5% of the energy required to produce the primary metal is needed in the recycling process.
Extrusion Process• Extrusion is a manufacturing process wherein metal is placed in a closed cavity and then flowed through an opening. The metal then takes the shape of the opening. • Extrusion is typically used in pipes, wires and tubes. • There are two types of extrusion, hot and cold. • Hot extrusion is when the metal to be extruded is below recrystallisation temperature • Cold extrusion is when the material is extruded above the recrystallization temperature • Extrusion is not a costly process meaning it can be continuous resulting in a high production volume • However, extrusion has its disadvantages such as variations in product size, the limitation of only one type of cross section and a high initial cost.
Our topic, Building Construction and Architecture gave us a large variety of possible products that could be designed using Aluminum extrusion. The architecture industry is all about strength and safety with an element of aesthetics. The metal is widely used in this industry in the pure form and as alloys and is commonly found in cladding, windowpanes, solar panels, construction tools, airplanes and in space. We were intrigued by the use of aluminum in space and used that as the basis of our research. Space exploration companies like NASA, SpaceX, ISRO, CNSA, etc. are exploring possibilities of a future life in space. SpaceX, in particular has been rapidly working towards sending civilians into space as tourists and hoping to set up a sustainable ecosystem there. With this in mind, we explored a variety of ideas for space, like space houses and taxis, which are included in our sketch book. However, after the concept review, we decided to take forward the idea of building a hydroponics system for Mars as
a means of sustainable food growth for the people of the future, considering a life in space. Our product makes use of galvanized, extruded aluminum as the tube structure where the nutrient medium will flow for a hydroponics system on Mars. Pure Aluminum corrodes and is not very strong structurally, however, alloyed aluminum is a good material for space, as it has structural strength but is light, reducing fuel cost. For the hydroponics system, we needed to find a suitable alloy that would not react with the water running in the system. Therefore, we decided to use the 6000 series Aluminum alloy that contains magnesium silicate- providing the desired properties of structural strength and corrosion resistance while remaining light weight. In our hydroponics model, we are using deep water culture even though it is a more water intensive process. We are doing this because not all vegetables can grow in the low water intensive system of drip irrigation. For example, root plants like potatoes and carrots need to immerse in the water tub. To keep the system uniform, we are keeping deep water culture for all shrub, herbs, and roots to maintain uniformity. To ensure no wastage of water, we will reuse the water, only replenishing the used up and exhausted minerals. During this 10-week group project brief, we have worked cohesively as a team, dividing and producing to the best of our ability. We have created a waterdependent plant growth system and greenhouse structure for the humans that might soon call Mars their home.
Initial Sketch Pages and Design Considerations
Time and team management
Time planning Existing product analysis Initial Research Further Research Concept Generation Concept Evaluation Design Development Final Detailing Presentation Prep Project hand in Presentations
Week Week Week Week Week Week Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Week Week Week 8 9 10
This table shows our initial time management in the form of a Gantt chart. We followed this well as we managed to meet our deadline well within time. Our design development and final detailing both took an extra week, as more consideration and team discussion was required. Initially, each team member was given a specific topic to research as follows in the context of space as after group discussion we thought this environment hadn’t been considered much in terms of Aluminium extrusion. Aluminum in building industry Aluminum as a material Extrusion Process Environmental Impact Existing Products and Trends Aluminum in space
Gene Devishi Stanley Harry Priten Luke
From this, we decided on our end user, product purpose and conducted secondary research in a similar style as follows but specifically looking at greenhouse systems: Mechanics Greenhouse User/Setting Cost Analysis Manufacturing Automatic window openings
Gene Devishi Stanley Harry Priten Luke
However, after conducting this research, we concluded that we would like to focus on producing a product for Mars as NASA and other space organisations, such as spaceX had recently invested more into the science of producing plant life in other environments. Therefore, each member of the group conducted some short and concise research on the following topics: Aluminum on Mars Existing hydroponic systems on Earth Water in Space Existing hydroponics on the ISS Mars Atmosphere Plant growth on mars and requirements for growth
Gene Devishi Stanley Harry Priten Luke
Once all the research was complete, we began creating initial designs, concepts, developed concepts and resulted in a final design for both the outer shell and extrusion. Overall, our division of work was as follows: Sketch Pages Report Presentation CAD Modelling
Everyone Devishi and Priten Everyone Gene and Luke